


Star Trek: Heroes and Demons

by MRKlinger87



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek Online, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Expect cameos by our favorite Star Trek characters, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28704159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MRKlinger87/pseuds/MRKlinger87
Summary: All Marius Rhodes wanted was to be a starship captain. And he's pretty sure he'll make a damn good one, exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new life... boldly going and all that. But during his time at the Academy he suffers some pretty rough set backs. And the United Federation of Planets that Marius adores so much, has been suddenly thrust into a war that could change the balance of power in the galaxy forever. With the war winding down, Marius finds himself in the center seat far sooner than he imagined. But predators can sense the wounded and while the Federation is still reeling from the horrors of the Dominion War, old enemies set their sites on the Federation while she's still licking her wounds.
Relationships: All Original Characters and pairings
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue: Past Prologue

Marius could feel the sweat on his palms when he laid his hands flat against the console as he stood at the Ops position. He'd expected the deck of the Intrepid to feel more substantial, but as the warp nacelles moved into their new position just before she jumped to warp - and now as _Intrepid_ dropped to impulse - the starship's decks seemed to stablize. He looked up from his console to the viewscreen. Hundreds of other starships - Romulan, Klingon and Starfleet - dotted the screen.

"Admiral Ross's projections can't be right, can they?" the helmsman asked as the imposing sphere of Cardassia Prime filled the screen. Hundreds, thousands of Jem'Hadar and Breen battleships stood between the Alliance fleet and the planet. "Forty percent losses before we even start landing troops?"

"It's no good worrying about what we can't change," Captain Emlan chastised. "If we get too consumed with 'what ifs' and hypotheticals we're gonna get distracted. I need all of you to focus on the battle at hand."

From the Ops position, behind the Captain, Marius watched on the viewscreen as the _USS Defiant_ and _USS Farragut_ took the lead, opening fire on the combined Breen/Jem'Hadar fleet.

"Well, helm, what are we waiting for. Let's get in there. Follow our battlegroup flagship, follow the _Honshu_ ," Emlan ordered.

In seconds, Intrepid's impulse engines started pushing the starship forward, into the fray of the battle. Lines of phaser fire streaked across the viewscreen, photon and quantum torpedoes twisting and turning. The deck of Intrepid shuttered as a beam from a Jem'Hadar ship was absorbed by the starship's shields.

"Shield's holding at eight-five percent," Marius said looking down at his console.

Torpedoes flew from Intrepid's tubes, as they targeted a Breen warship. Intrepid heeled far toward the right as the vessel arced away, narrowly avoiding a collision.

Ahead, Marius could see the large _Nebula_ -class _USS Honshu_ as she forced her way into the Dominion lines. Honshu's saucer was lit up like a Christmas tree as rays of phaser fire shot off in all different directions.

_Intrepid_ shook violently, pulling Marius's attention back to his own ship. "Forward shields down to sixty percent," he called out as another blast shook the starship.

From the center chair, Captain Emlan continued calling out navigation orders as _Intrepid_ rolled to the left, trying to avoid a Breen torpedo. The starship jarred hard to the right and Commander T'Varek went flying and sending Marius to the floor.

Marius rose back to his feet and stood at his station, the lights of the bridge had dimmed dramatically. "I am rerouting emergency power to the mains," he said, the lights brightening incrementally. It was then that Marius was able to take account of the scene of the bridge.

The First Officer lay where he'd fallen, his head bleeding from where it had smashed into the railing.

"Medical teams to the bridge," Captain Emlan called into the address system on his chair.

On the viewscreen, Marius could see the _Defiant_ as she twisted and turned, faster than any other ship in the fleet. She was drawing much of the fire from the Breen, but the Jem'Hadar's focus wasn't so easily distracted.

An alarm on his console sounded and he looked at the monitor. "Captain, the _Grissom's_ warp core is going critical."

"On screen."

The focus of the viewscreen flashed to the _Ambassador_ -class starship as small pods burst from the saucer, the crew evacuating. In a blinding flash, _Grissom's_ warp core failed and the ship's powerhouse ripped the vessel apart. A sphere of energy emanated out from where the starship had been as the shockwave tore through an escape pod that failed to reach minimum safe distance.

"There's nothing we can do for them right now," the Captain said, "viewer forward."

Again the screen's focus changed and the battle around them raged on. Another shudder tore through _Intrepid's_ spaceframe as Breen disruptors collided with the ship.

"Ventral shields down to twenty percent," Marius called out.

"Rhodes," the Captain called back to Marius, "I want to know the second they fall below fifteen."

Marius nodded as he followed the monitor closely. It took him a moment to realize he hadn't audibly replied. "Yes, sir," he finally said as the ship shook again, even more violently than before.

The Tactical station erupted in sparks and fire and a support beam came crashing down with a heavy thud.

Marius glanced up and found Captain Emlan laying on the ground, the heavy, duranium strut laying on his bleeding head. The turbolift doors opened and medical teams stepped out. Marius looked over and found the Lieutenant from Tactical slumped over his station. One of the med techs scanned the Lieutenant with his tricorder and shook his head at the doctor. The officer was dead.

Doctor Riley was busy scanning Captain Emlan but Marius could see that Emlan had been killed by the falling beam. The same was true for Commander T'Varek.

The CMO's eyes scanned the bridge, taking into account who was left, while the medical teams began clearing the bodies from the deck, making space for the continuing battle.

"Lieutenant Rhodes," the Doctor said with a shaken voice, "you're the senior most surviving bridge officer."

Marius heart stopped beating. He was in a panic. This is not how he wanted to get the center chair.

Riley continued. "The _Intrepid_ is yours." He paused. "Computer, transfer command codes to Lieutenant Marius Rhodes. Authorization: Chief Medical Officer, Riley, Patrick, Alpha Tango nine zero five."

The automated voice called back. "Confirmed. _USS Intrepid_ now under command of Lieutenant Marius Rhodes."

There was no time to ponder what that meant, the Battle of Cardassia was still raging beyond the bridge. Marius stepped forward, an ensign taking his position at Ops.

"Ops, you have tactical," he said. He'd already reconfigured his console to take both positions, just in case.

The ship shuddered again as he sat down in the Captain's seat. He didn't have the opportunity to address the crew like he would if he'd have been given the ship properly, so he just... became the captain.

_Intrepid_ twisted and turned at his order, and her phasers and torpedoes arced across the Cardassian sky.

"Keep us moving at three quarter impulse and keep us in a consistent roll - six revolutions a minute. Fire on each target as it bares," he ordered.

_Intrepid_ screamed across the battlefield, twisting constantly as she went.

"Hull breech on deck seven, sections twenty three, twenty four and twenty five," the ensign behind him called out. "Emergency forcefields are holding."

Marius nodded. "Evacuate those sections and seal off with emergency bulkheads, we can't spare the power for the forcefields."

_Intrepid_ came about as the battle raged. Again, the _Honshu_ came on the viewer and Marius's attention was drawn as the large, capital ship lumbered slowly through the combat area. With each strike against the ships shields, the glow of her defenses grew dimmer and dimmer.

Marius pulled his attention back to his own ship as she shook again. "Report," he ordered.

"Aft shields down to fifteen percent."

"Divert all power and compensate," he paused coming to a decision. "Actually, evacuate decks six through ten and divert power and life support from those decks to the defensive systems."

The Ops ensign did what Marius ordered as the starship rolled its way toward the heart of the battle.

The larger capital ships had positioned themselves like an ever advancing net while the smaller ship, ships like _Defiant_ and _Intrepid_ , dove into the thick of it. It was something incredible to be sure. Ships like the _Nebula_ -class, _Galaxy_ -class, and new _Sovereign_ -class, advancing forward in lockstep with Romulan _D'deridex_ -class Warbirds and Klingon _Vor'cha_ -class Cruisers, even the ever present Cardassian _Galor_ -class warships; all together a threatening wall of ships pressing in on the Dominion forces.

"Sir, we're getting reports of Jem'Hadar forces starting to systematically attack their Cardassian allies. They're trying to wipe out the population."

An even heavier cloud fell on the bridge. "We can't help the Cardassians if we don't hold together here."

A new resolve settled into _Intrepid's_ bridge.

"All hands, this is Acting Captain Rhodes," the ship shook with another shield impact. "The Cardassian people have rebelled against their Dominion allies. The Dominion is retaliating by trying to exterminate the Cardassian people. Civilians and military alike. We can't let that kind of atrocity stand. I need everyone to continue to push through." He wanted to say something inspirational, but he couldn't find the words. "That's all. Rhodes out."

A concussive blow sent Marius to the ground and he caught himself on the fallen beam that bisected the bridge.

"Engineering to bridge," the comm rang out as Marius returned to the center seat. "I hope you weren't planning on trying to warp out of here," the engineer said. "We've just lost the port nacelle."

The remaining bridge crew glanced anxiously at each other as they continued the battle.

"How long," Marius replied, "before you've got it back online."

There was a pause as the starship swung about again, the line of capital ships again coming into view. "Sir, you misunderstand. The systems aren't down. The actual nacelle has been torn from the hull. We're venting warp plasma."

He didn't think he could be any more tense. "Are we in danger of losing the warp core?"

"No, sir."

_Intrepid_ moved into the shadow of the huge saucer section of the _Honshu_ and came to a stop.

Marius relaxed incrementally. "Okay, stem the bleeding and focus on power and damage control." He clicked the channel closed.

A whistle sounded from behind him. "The fleet is being hailed by the _Farragut_. It's Admiral Ross."

"Partial screen."

The upper right corner of the viewscreen shifted and the Admiral appeared. "Dominion lines are starting to fracture. We push through and start landing troops." The window of the Admiral blinked closed, leaving just the view of the battle.

On the viewscreen, Marius could see the larger ships starting to push through, getting into position to start beaming down the Alliance invasion forces.

"Captain, I'm reading an huge energy build up coming from the _Honshu_."

Marius wheeled around quickly, rising to his feet. "What's happening over there?"

The Ops ensign looked up from his console. "They're losing antimatter containment." There was a pause. ""Looks like they're getting ready to separate the saucer."

Marius nodded, his mouth and throat suddenly very dry. "Good, that'll get the crew to a minimum safe distance. Helm," he called turning forward again. "Get us clear."

The helm console beeped as the lieutenant punched in a new heading and the ship slid forward.

Admiral Ross suddenly appeared on the screen again as suddenly the Jem'Hadar and Breen forces stopped firing. "All ships, this is Admiral Ross. The Founder has surrendered."

A cheer went up around Marius.

"The Dominion has agreed to an unconditional surrender," Ross continued.

Marius couldn't help a small smile and sigh of relief. He couldn't wait to talk to Azaiah, get his side of the battle and tell him about his command, however short it was going to be.

"Captain... the _Honshu_."

The screen's focus changed to the large _Nebula_ -class ship that was now several hundred kilometers behind them.

"Their docking latches won't retract."

No sooner had the ensign's words come out of her lips did the screen light up with the horrible flash of the ship's warp core breeching.

"All hands! Brace for-" He was cut off by the violent impact of the ion shockwave from the exploding starship.

When the brilliant light faded, there was nothing left of the _Honshu_ , nothing but a curved edge of her saucer that was spinning through space, tumbling toward the planet below.

"My god," the helmsman said.

Marius turned about to give the order to begin rescue operations.

"No lifeboat launched, sir. _Honshu_ went with all hands."

He felt sick and with a nauseous, drowning feeling, Marius collapsed into the command seat, his chest constricting tightly. Honshu _went with_ all _hands._


	2. Ex Astra, Scientia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marius begins his final year at Starfleet Academy and the costs of the Dominion War start hitting VERY close to home.

ELEVEN MONTHS EARLIER  
EARTH, SAN FRANCISCO,  
STARFLEET ACADEMY

Even as the tingling subsided and Marius reformed on the transporter pad, he was already feeling the bittersweet tinge of knowing that he was beginning his final year at Starfleet Academy. The three years before had certainly been filled with its rough patches but Marius had used each struggle as a waypoint, a resource to further shore himself up for his ultimate goal, the center chair.

This year was going to be different though. It was his first year without Azaiah around, not that their relationship had been smooth sailing. No, even Marius had to admit that once he got to the Academy, the year after Azaiah had, things between them started to fray. He knew Azaiah had been right, Marius was _too_ driven. He neglected things just to make sure he was the best, things like his boyfriend. No, their relationship while at the Academy was never going to be the fields of gold it had been when they were still home on Betazed.

_"It's not like it was at home, Marius." Azaiah had told him. "It's not that I don't believe you, I think in your own way you really do still love me... But it's not enough. You're too busy. You never have time to be together."_

_Marius didn't know what that was supposed to mean. "We're together right now. We're together almost every night."_

_"Maybe physically," the dark haired boy replied. "But you're mind is always somewhere else... usually in the simulator."_

_"That's not true," the redhead protested._

_"Marius. I'm a Betazoid."_

_Marius shifted, "Where does this leave us then? How do we fix this?" He caught the look in Azaiah's eyes. "How do_ I _fix it?"_

_Azaiah smiled sadly at the shorter man. "Marius. Aren't you tired of this? Aren't you tired of playing this game of plugging holes just to let another form?" He didn't wait for Marius to answer. "We've had this conversation so many times that it's starting to feel rehearsed."_

_Marius nodded and tried to not think about the other times they'd had this conversation, the other times they'd broken up only to be back to each other a week or so later._

_"Not this time, Marius," the Betazoid replied to the unspoken statement. "Besides, we both know that there's almost no chance that we'll be assigned the same posting. And even if we were, there's still a year between us. I'll be who knows where while you're still here."_

_Marius was stunned into silence._

_"Don't you have anything to say?"_

_The redhead's eyes dropped to the grass of the quad for just a moment before his gray eyes flashed back up to find Azaiah's warm, dark, irises. "What do you want me to say, Azaiah? Anything I could say to try and change your mind you've already cut off at the knees. I just..." he didn't want to say it; didn't want to admit that not only was he going to miss the young man he loved, but he was afraid of being lonely._

_"I didn't say we wouldn't stay close. Or that we'd never talk. We're a part of each other, and we always will be." He smiled at Marius._

_"Then why?" he asked, not liking how desperate he sounded. "Why does anything have to change? And we might be assigned the same posting, we're on two different tracks."_

_Azaiah smiled. "I'm a scientist, a xenobiologist. And we're at war. I'm not likely to be 'out there' all that much for a long while... You're Command Track. If this war is still going on, Starfleet isn't going to waste any time getting you to where you're needed."_

Marius told himself that the twinge in his chest was the finalization of the transport cycle and not the familiar tug of heartbreak. He looked down where his belongings had materialized just next to him. No one had to know that most of the stuff in those cases had either belonged to Azaiah or had been gifts from Azaiah, and the Betazoid boy certainly didn't need to know that Marius was the reason he couldn't find his Academy Marathon hoodie.

"Rhodes!" The excited greeting from another cadet pulled Marius back from his sullen march down memory lane. He looked up at the tall cadet with a forced smile.

It wasn't that Marius disliked Krath; in fact Krath was about his closest friend at the Academy, it was just that, well, an excitable and sometimes loud Vulcan wasn't something anyone was used to.

"Krath," Marius replied as he stepped off the pad. "How was your summer?"

"My mother's research trip got postponed so they guilted me into spending the whole break at home with them. Can you imagine a whole summer on Andoria? It was my very own special brand of Hell."

Marius was loading his belongings onto the A-grav flatbed when he flatly asked the towering Vulcan, "Didn't you grow up on Andoria?"

"Yea," Krath replied with sass. "But I'm always gonna be Vulcan. Get me off world from that frozen wasteland and my blood cries out for the Forge!" He laughed. "You're across the hall from me this year."

Marius nodded. "Nice."

"How's Azaiah? Shit. Am I allowed to ask that? Is it weird that I'm asking how your ex is?"

Even after three years at the Academy with Krath, the idea of hearing a Vulcan use coarse language always felt like some weird Ferangi comedy routine. "It's fine," he replied honestly. "He's good. I spoke to him last night while I was on the transport ship. He's already done with his research on Azor Prime and he hopes he'll get his transfer orders in the next few weeks. He's ready to do anything to get off that tiny little station thats orbiting Azor."

The pair made their way down the corridor of the Tucker Residence Hall, heading for the turbolift. "I guess you heard about Tim and everyone?" Krath asked.

"You mean on the Valiant?"

The Vulcan nodded.

"Yea, I heard." It had been hard not to know. The Academy had sent out the information as soon as it had been confirmed. Now Marius and Krath were two of only a handful of the surviving members of Red Squad, the Academy's elite cadets. Tim Watters had recruited them both himself. And now he was dead. Tim had taken command of the Valiant behind Dominion lines when the commissioned crew had all been killed. And he kept his crew of Red Squad cadets together, fighting against the Jem'Hadar. And Tim and almost the whole crew of Valiant made the ultimate sacrifice for the Federation.

"They should have just come back," Krath said as the turbolift doors opened on the two hundred and fortieth floor.

"I don't know," Marius replied. "They did what was best for Starfleet." He could practically hear the Vulcan rolling his eyes as they came to a stop between their doors. "I want to get this all unpacked." Marius said. He turned to face his friend and raised his hand in the Vulcan 'Ta'al.' "Live long and prosper." He waited, expecting Krath to reply with the traditional, "peace and long life."

That wasn't how Krath replied. Instead of splitting his fingers in the salute, the Vulcan lower all his fingers but the middle. "Eat a bag of dicks," he said with a snicker.

Marius rolled his eyes and turned into his quarters.

***

The Academy grounds were buzzing with the news from the Alpha Quadrant. Sure, the Dominion had pushed the borders back and it had been no secret that Starfleet had suffered some pretty heavy losses, but when word reached Earth that the Tenth Fleet had been caught on a training exercise... Now as Marius sat, trying to read about the battle above Veridian III, a huge battle between Starfleet and the Jem'Hadar was raging above his home planet.

Marius wondered if and when he'd get word of the battle, how the Tenth had faired and if his family was safe.

The PADD on the grass next to him buzzed, the name Azaiah Ilwary flashed and he dropped the PADD he was reading from to the side, scrambling for the other.

"Azaiah," he said, anxiously.

The other man's face was a mask of fear. "You heard." It wasn't a question.

"Yea, I heard there's a battle going on above the planet. They caught the Tenth off guard?"

Something changed in Azaiah's face and it wasn't a hiccough in the subspace connection. "Marius, they've landed shock troops. There are Jem'Hadar on Betazed."

Marius stomach dropped out. The Jem'Hadar were a fearsome, warrior race; genetically bred by the Dominion to be the most fearsome and ruthless of soldiers, a race that made Klingons seem cuddly. And the Jem'Hadar rarely took prisoners. He steeled himself against the bubbling panic. "How do you know that?"

"The station here above Azor Prime is also a subspace relay."

The cadet swallowed hard, forcing his emotions in check. "Did you hear anything else? About people in the government maybe?"

The dark haired ensign on the other end of call shook his head. "No. Marius, how didn't we see this coming? Shouldn't your dad have known... something?"

Marius narrowed his eyes. "How? Just because he's an ambassador?"

"He's the Federation Ambassador to the Cardassians," Azaiah said pointedly. "He's gotta know something."

"They expelled our diplomats before the war started. That's why dad's been home on Betazed. You know that." There was an edge of anger in Marius's voice that he was fighting to bury. He knew Azaiah was just scared and looking for a why, for a sign or signal.

The other line was quiet.

"What do you know, Azaiah?"

There was a long silence. "The Tenth is gone. They're all destroyed. Over the last hour, messages from the planet are becoming increasingly more sporadic and garbled. The last clear-ish messages said something about orbital bombardment." Azaiah looked sick.

"How do you know all of this? You of all people shouldn't be reading it."

Azaiah closed his eyes in a slow blink. "I'm not, my commander is." There was a pause. "I um..." Shame was clear on his face. "I've been listening," he said, pointing to his head.

"You need to stop. You shouldn't be listening to any of this. Hell, you shouldn't be listening to your commander's thoughts."

Azaiah skimmed over Marius's scold. "They're rounding up government officials."

Government officials meant all members of the Fifth House, the ruling Betazoid Government, as well as Federation and Starfleet officials stationed on the planet, Marius had no delusions; no question that that included his father. His heart rate skyrocketed and he gritted his teeth trying to keep his composure. Outwardly, he stayed calm, but internally, he was a tossing sea of anxiety, and despite no longer having Azaiah as his, he so badly wanted to be with the other man, to be held by him. Betazed was home to both of them after all, even if it was only the adopted home of the Rhodes family. When he realized what he was thinking, he was glad they weren't together in person, glad Azaiah couldn't read his thoughts. "My mom and dad..." he finally said, breaking the silence.

"I know, Mar..."

Marius's eyes shot to the screen of the PADD. Azaiah hadn't used that pet name since they'd broken up.

"Sorry," he said, realizing what had slipped from his lips.

Marius shook his head. Marius had other things to worry about right then, his ex using a loving term of endearment wasn't high on his priorities. No, right now just over sixty lightyears from Earth, the people of Betazed, and his family, were locked in a struggle for their lives. A struggle that would take months. And their plight was not going to stop the education at the Academy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoy this. I got the idea for this story while I was playing Star Trek Online. I wrote a little bio for my character in the game and other players started complimenting it. I decided that I really like the concept and decided to blow the little bio into a real story.
> 
> I'll be updating weekly. See you guys soon! LLAP!
> 
> *Best Majel Barrett Roddenberry voice*  
> Next Time on Star Trek: Heroes and Demons:  
> While the ever violent Dominion War rages, student life at Starfleet Academy must go on. With his last year at the Academy waning, Marius must face the Academy's most rigorous tests. Meanwhile Starfleet makes a push into Dominion Space.


	3. Chapter 2: The Impossible Box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An historic example of life at Starfleet Academy is altered to keep it fresh and Marius is among the first to experience it. Starfleet makes a push to reclaim what it's lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Best Majel Barrett Roddenberry voice*
> 
> Last time on Star Trek: Heroes and Demons:
> 
> Marius Peter Rhodes returned to San Fransisco for his last year at Starfleet Academy. Naturally, as he materialized on the transporter pad, he was hit with a blast of nostalgia from previous years; not all good. When he finally settled in and the academic year got into full swing, Marius received word that his home planet of Betazed was being invaded by the Dominion. But despite his fear for his home and his lovesick heart, life at Starfleet Academy moved along.
> 
> And now, the continuation.

"They're changing the parameters!" Krath complained. "They shouldn't be allowed to do that. It's an historic test."

Marius rolled his eyes as he listened to his friend ramble on; another anachronism between Krath and his Vulcan heritage. "If it went untouched for decades, everyone would know what to expect. It's logical to change it," he said.

"The point isn't to be unprepared, it's to be unwinnable!" the Vulcan complained loudly. "Do you really wanna go toe to toe about logic." He lifted his eyebrow in a very Vulcan expression and he adopted a monotone, unimpressed affect. "Logic dictates that in an unwinnable scenario, preparation is irrelevant."

Marius sighed and turned his attention back to his PADD, focusing on his warp theory homework. "If a starship can travel faster than warp 9.99, like a Borg cube moving through transwarp, how is it that warp 10 is the ultimate speed limit of the universe?" He rubbed his temples.

"Warp speed increases exponentially, there're theoretically infinite Cochrans between 9.9 and 10." Krath said as he threw the springball at the door but failing to catch it on the return.

"I hate Warp Theory," the redhead said, tossing his PADD on his bed. "Why do I need to know this crap? I'm not on the Engineering track." He flopped back onto the sheets, wrinkling the perfectly made bed, his body sprawling out over the Starfleet Academy insignia that adorned the blanket. "We're getting close to the limit for starship safety anyways. We aren't gonna be getting much faster."

"'Til we figure out transwarp." Krath stood up and collected his springball. "I think I'm going back to get ready."

The bed creaked as Marius propped himself up on his elbows. "For what?"

The Vulcan stood in the doorway, one foot in the corridor. "I'm headed into San Francisco tonight. You should come."

Marius laughed humorlessly. "Yea, I don't think so. The places you go aren't really the sort of place I enjoy." There was an almost sad twinge to his voice.

"C'mon, Marius," Krath goaded. "You've got to move on."

"I am 'moved on.'" His reply might have been a little too swift.

Krath turned around, moving to grab Marius off of his bed. "You know what they say, 'the only way to get over someone is to get under some one.'"

Cadet Rhodes rolled away, out of Krath's reach. "Have I ever told you you're an embarrassment to all of Vulcan?"

A manic grin spread across Krath's face. "Fine, stay here and wallow."

Marius rolled his eyes. "I'm not wallowing," he said under his breath.

"Yea, sure... I'm not wasting our last year at the Academy pitying myself, and I'm sure as hell not gonna pity you?"

With a heavy sigh, Marius stood from his bed and grabbed his PADD, tossing it on the desk before he started smoothing out his sheets again. "Don't eat too much chocolate," he said, sounding a little too much like a mother hen. "And I guess, have fun."

"Oh you know me," Krath said with an impish smirk that did not belong on any Vulcan's face. "Vulcan in the streets, Romulan in the sheets."

"Shady as fuck and xenophobic?"

Krath rolled his eyes and stepped through the doorway. "Have fun trying to figure out transwarp," and without another word, the doors closed with their characteristic 'whoosh,' leaving Marius alone with his thoughts.

***

"Okay, Cadet." Admiral Brand said as she looked down on the simulator. "The sim is yours."

Marius shifted uncomfortably in the center chair. Behind him, at the comms station, a familiar whistle sounded.

"We are being hailed," the other cadet said.

Marius twisted in his seat, taking in the rather generic model bridge. "On screen."

The viewscreen flashed from the star field to the face of a Starfleet Admiral, an Andorian woman. "Captain Rhodes," she greeted haughtily.

"Admiral Ch'qiral," he said with forced respect. Marius recognized that there was no love lost between him and _Captain_ Ch'qiral. They'd had multiple showdowns in his Interstellar Ethics class, mostly because Marius felt that the captain who was instructing clung too tightly to her own restrictive ethics.

"Rhodes, Starfleet has received a request from one of our affiliate worlds. Following a catastrophic, volcanic eruption, they are being forced to evacuate the planet to one of their colony worlds. You're the closest ship. We need the _Olympic_ to get to Galen III as quickly as possible and assist with evacuations to Galen V."

"Yes ma'am."

Ch'qiral did not wait any longer before terminating the 'subspace' connection.

"Helm, lay in a course for Galen III, maximum warp."

The simulation skipped the travel time and in a matter of seconds, the screen showed the star field slow as they 'came out of warp.'

As they finished the evacuation portion of the simulation, Marius wondered what it was that the instructors were looking for; the whole mission had gone very routinely. Maybe this was just another exam, not the infamous _Kobyashi Maru_ that he'd expected it to be.

"Okay, helm. Galen V, full impulse."

The computer generated image of the world below pulled away as they left orbit and moved toward the next phase of the mission. The 'turbolift' doors opened and the cadet playing the role of CMO walked onto the bridge. "Sir, we've got a problem."

Marius raised his eyebrow questioningly, encouraging the doctor to proceed.

"It seems our guest forgot to mention a plague going around on their planet. Thirty percent of the population is infected, and it's almost entirely terminal."

Marius stood from his seat. "But the transporters must have caught it."

"Yes sir, when the virus was detected, the computer redirected the transporter to a secure location, Cargo Bay 3, and erected a forcefield."

The Commanding cadet signed. "Okay, Doctor. I'll bite, what's the problem then?"

"Cargo Bay 3 is a huge location and the Galenian population's not small. The energy needed to keep that forcefield in place isn't gonna last for ever."

Marius turned to his 'engineer.' "Report?"

"He's right, I think we've got... two hours at most before that forcefield comes down."

"Galen V is an hour and a half away at impulse."

Marius sat back in his chair. "Right, no time to dawdle. Let's go to work, people."

He felt confident in his actions, in his temperament as he worked with his Ops officer to prioritize the offloading of the Galenian refugees.

"Captain," he heard from his friend, Krath. "Sensors indicate a small ship in front of us. It's matching our movements, positioning itself between us and Galen V."

"Hail them."

The screen flashed to life with the form of what Marius was fairly certain was a male, though he couldn't be certain. The fine fir that covered every centimeter of his counterpart was a honey color and seem like it was waving in a breeze, but on its own.

"I'm Marius Rhodes, Captain of the Federation Starship Olympic. We're on a humanitarian aid mission." He instantly was beating himself up over the use of humanitarian.

"Your ship is carrying spreaders. You will exterminate them or return them to their world."

Marius didn't like being threatened, especially by a creature who was probably really just a classmate of his, hidden behind a computer modeled alien. He leaned forward in the chair. "I'm afraid that's not possible. Their world is dying."

"So are they. And you will join them if you do not comply."

"My mission is to deliver these people to their colony on Galen V."

"The colony has been eradicated."

Marius's hand flew to the back of his neck, where his ginger hair faded into his neck. "What do you mean eradicated?"

"We cleansed the planet before the contagion could be spread. It will be many years before any new life can take root there but it is a small price to pay..."

Marius hesitated.

"Captain, the forcefield will fail in 20 minutes."

 _You've got a couple choices_ , he thought to himself. _Take them back, let them all die. Continue with only the healthy and search for a new world._

He gestured to cut the audio.

"Lt. Krath, do our friends over there have shields up?"

"Not at present, sir."

Marius nodded. "Good. They're so worried about this contagion? Let them deal with it. Beam the entire population to one of their cargo bays"

A mutter went around the bridge. "Sir?"

"Do it."

"Aye."

No sooner had Krath carried out the order, did an alarm ring out. "Captain, they are locking weapons."

"Red Alert, shields up."

The simulator rocked as a fake phaser strike was registered. The two ships exchanged fire for several minutes.

"Our shields are failing. But theirs are down too."

"Sound general quarters. If there are intruders, fight them off."

Marius saw the paths in his head, the end game of each decision. This was the _Kobyashi Maru._

"Captain, we've lost weapons and life support."

He saw all the possible results play out, die of the illness that had been brought aboard, scan the refugees ahead of time and refuse them passage, die in battle or suffocate. And the ship would fall into the hands of the attackers.

"Computer, initiate auto-destruct. One minute."

"Auto-destruct initiated. Warp core will breech in one minute"

"That's enough," called Admiral Brand from above. "That's certainly one way to deal with it."

Marius glanced up at the Admiral; Captain Ch'qiral was whispering something in her ear.

"Cadet Rhodes, the ethics of some of your decisions have been called into question."

Marius leveled his shoulders, preparing to defend himself, but Admiral Brand continued. "I found your solution creative. It removed the onus from you and your crew and while I'm not certain that it was entirely ethical, it ran the possibility of giving you a tactical advantage, throwing the marauder's crew into disarray. Your decisions have been logged. This examination is closed."

***

"That was cold, don't you think?"

"Not really," Marius defended. "They were either going to die on the ship when we were destroyed, on their homeworld, or on the other ship. All I did was weigh the options of turning their unavoidable deaths into a fighting chance."

"When did you realize this was your _Kobyashi Maru_?" Krath asked.

"When the other ship showed up. We're halfway through our last term. It had to becoming sooner or later." He switched his weight from his right leg to his left as they waited in line at the replimat before he took a step forward and near whispered 'chicken sandwich' at the replicator.

"You realize how predictable you are?"

Marius chose to ignore the comment and he sat down at an empty table. "How would you have handled the test?" he asked.

"I'd have blown them out of the sky before they had a chance to fire at me." Krath sipped at his Plomeek soup, making a face as he tasted the thick, red, liquid.

"If you don't like it, why do you eat it?" Marius asked. "It's not logical," he finished in a teasing tone.

"It's what everyone expects," the Vulcan replied, his voice hushed. There was a pause as the Vulcan's dark eyes scanned the students gathered in the replimat. "I'm already different enough from the other Vulcans here."

Marius looked at him in utter confusion. "You could always... tone it down a little."

"I'm not hiding myself."

Marius was quite for a moment. He knew how good of a student Krath was and how good a pilot and capable commander. He made Red Squad right along with Marius. There was definitely something more to his friend than Krath wanted people to see, and Marius was sure the young man was more 'Vulcan' than he put on. "Fine, but if you don't like it, try tomato soup. It looks close enough." He finished the sandwich. "I need to get back to my room. I want to study a little more before the Warp Theory exam." Marius stood, his gray eyes boring into his Vulcan friend for just a moment more as he considered how much of Krath's brash exterior was all a show. When the Vulcan started to look up at him, he began moving away, through the door and out across the quad.

***

"I'm not sure I handled it at all like they wanted," he said, facing the console.

Azaiah replied with a sympathetic expression. "I don't know if there is a 'way' you're expected to react, Marius," he justified. "I think it's more about seeing your reasoning and whether you can make the decisions, regardless of knowing that you likely won't live."

Marius rubbed at his eyes. "I don't know. I think I might have looked cold or... I don't know, something felt wrong."

Marius watched the monitor closely, expecting some sort of reaction from Azaiah, but the sudden look of shock was not the reaction he'd expected.

"What?"

The Betazoid held up a hand, the universal sign for 'hang on a minute.' There was a long pause while Marius watched Azaiah's expression cycle through a host of emotions.

"What?" he said again, more insistently.

"There's a battle happening. Four ships are engaging Dominion forces at Betazed. One of the ships is the _Enterprise_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy it. Let me know. Comment, Kudo, all of it.
> 
> See you all next week!


	4. Patterns of Force

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> News of the operation to free Betazed reaches Starfleet Academy, meanwhile Marius gets both good and bad news of his own.  
> In the shadow of the news, life at Starfleet Academy continues, including Marius's Parisses Squares matches. But anyone who plays Parisses Squares knows, sometimes victory is painful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Majel Barrett Roddenberry voice*
> 
> Last time on Star Trek: Heroes and Demons.
> 
> Cadet Marius Rhodes entered the simulator and took the infamous Kobyashi Maru test. When a professor calls his actions in the test into question, Marius only want's to talk to one person about them.
> 
> Meanwhile Operations Spark and Ignite begin.
> 
> And now, the continuation

The door chimed for the fifth time in just seconds before suddenly there was pounding on it.

"I'll get back to you," Marius said, terminating the subspace call. He turned from the console, the screen now displaying only the Red Squad insignia. "Come!" he called and the doors opened.

"Marius!" Krath said, excitedly. "It's happening."

Marius squared his shoulders as he rose from the small seat. "Maybe," he replied, not wanting to get his hopes up. "Four ships isn't really much of a liberation force, is it?"

The Vulcan rolled his eyes. "Rhodes, Sentok Nor is breaking up. The images I saw showed the habitat ring tearing away. That's the Dominion command center."

Marius wanted so badly to believe his friend, but it wasn't the first 'liberation' attempt Starfleet had made, and none of the others had had any success. "I'm still not getting my hopes up."

With a sigh, Krath plopped himself onto Marius's bed. "What's Azaiah got to say about it?"

"The news JUST came in. Why do you think I've had any chance to talk to Azaiah about it?"

Krath raised his brow in a VERY Vulcan expression. "Because it's that time. You're always talking to him this time." There was a pause. "When are you to going to just admit that you're going to get back together and quit with this whole 'it's better this way' song and dance?"

A mirthless laugh escaped Marius. "It wasn't my choice, Krath."

"I know that but you're both fooling yourself if you believe that you two can stay away from each other. You're both so co-dependent on each other. Let's be honest you two apart just isn't right; you being together is... logical."

Marius laughed. "I... I don't disagree with you - that we need each other. And I think we're meant to be together... I just don't think Azaiah agrees anymore. I think... I think I ruined that."

The Vulcan gave another skeptical look. "Please. It sure looks like he's as reliant on you as you, him."

"Maybe. I..." His gaze was to the console, to where, just moments before, Azaiah's face had filled the screen and Marius knew how he felt, how he was complete when he was speaking with Azaiah. "I hope you're right."

***

The persistent whistle chime coming from his computer terminal woke Marius up. He blinked into the darkness of his dorm room, illuminated only by the dull glow from the console, its display reading 'incoming transmission.' He yawned as he rose from his bed, pulling a pair of jogging pants up over his boxers, and crossed the small room.

He pressed the touchscreen and replied before the image finished loading. "Rhodes," he said. The video finally connected.

"Marius..." the familiar voice sounded tired, worn, but happy.

The redhead's eyes bolted up to the screen. "Dad?"

The older man's eyes were hollow. His hair had grayed significantly and he looked thinner. "It's so good to see you."

Marius scrambled for a t-shirt to cover his chest. "Are you okay?" he asked. "How did you get to a communications array?"

"Marius, the Federation came. Betazed is free."

A weight lifted from the Cadet's chest as his head popped through the shirt's collar. But when he saw the Ambassador's face, a stone seemed to fall back into place. "What?" he asked, knowing the other shoe was about to drop. Best to just get it over with.

"I'm... I don't. God almighty."

"Just say it, Dad."

The older man heaved a heavy sigh. "Marius, your mother was... she was killed months ago. When the Dominion invaded, they bombarded the planet from space. Unfortunately, your mom was on a high speed transport on her way back from Rixx. The mag-rail had been struck by one of the Jem'Hadar weapons and the transport went off the track. No one onboard survived."

Each breath became increasingly harder to take. He couldn't comprehend that his mother was dead. And his father... he seemed so, unshaken. He took a deep breath. "You seem awfully calm about it." His tone was nothing short of indicting.

"Marius," his father defended, "I've had eight months to sit with this. I've accepted it."

A skeptical grunt came from Marius's chest.

"You know I loved your mother, very much. But this isn't new for me, Marius. I've been grieving for months." He continued speaking but Marius had stopped listening, distracted by the comm chirp of another incoming transmission.

"I've got to go," he said, terminating the call without saying goodbye, numb from the sudden shock.

When he answered the second call, it was no surprise to him that it was Azaiah's face smiling through subspace at him. "You're up?"

"Yea... my father called just a minute ago."

The smile on the Betazoid's face was almost contagious... almost. "So you heard then. Betazed's been liberated. Our home is safe again!"

Marius struggled to smile and he knew that whatever expression his face had made wasn't convincing. "What's wrong, Mar?"

Marius felt a rush of both joy and a pang of pain, wondering if Azaiah had slipped, but the other young man hadn't seemed to notice. "My dad just told me that mom was um..." It felt like the word was stuck in his throat. He pushed past the lump. "She was uh... she's dead. When the Dominion invaded." He finally broke, his eyes spilling over.

Azaiah's expression sank instantly. "Oh God, Mar, I'm so sorry." He even moved toward the terminal, like he was trying to reach out through subspace, across the forty lightyears.

Marius wanted that so badly, wanted to take from Azaiah's strength, to feel protected. "It's... I don't know."

On the desk, one of the many PADDs started screaming. He hurriedly reached to silence... whichever PADD was so noisy, but in his rush he knocked over the pile, and the whole stack of PADDs tumbled to the floor. "Fuck," he cursed as he squatted to pick the devices up.

The dorms were usually very quite at 0300, and the noise dampeners kept most sound bleed through from one room to another almost nil, but when Marius finally succeeded in silencing his PADD, he could hear a chorus of them from countless other rooms.

He looked at the screen only to see the breaking reports of the liberation of Betazed on the device. "Guess the news is out," he said, returning to the console. "I think... I should um... try and get some sleep."

Azaiah nodded. "Good idea. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Sounds good," Marius said as his hand glided across the smooth glass of his computer terminal, moving toward the 'terminate call' icon. He paused. "Azaiah?"

"Hmm?"

"I lo.... I miss you."

"I know, Mar." There was an unreadable expression on the Betazoid's features. "I do too."

***

An Academy Security guard and Krath were standing over him when he woke up.

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

Krath smiled and waved off the guard. "You wouldn't answer the door and the computer said you were in here."

"So you broke in."

The Vulcan shrugged. "I've got big news."

Marius finally sat up, "I already know. My father called last night... or this morning."

"You didn't wake me to tell me?" Krath sounded genuinely hurt.

Marius didn't feel like dealing with the bruised ego of an illogical Vulcan. "I didn't need to. The news network did just fine. And I had somethings I had to deal with on my own."

"Right... I could have helped, ya know."

"Not now, Krath."

The Vulcan shifted his weight from his left leg to his right and rubbed at his head, his already messily, un-Vulcan hair becoming more tangled. "For someone who's planet was just freed, you're really in a shit mood."

"Fuck off, Krath!" he said.

"Wow!" Krath's tone was both hurt and angry, like he wanted to fight, but he turned for the door just the same.

Marius sighed. "Shit... My mom was killed, Krath," he said quietly.

The Vulcan spun on his heel. "Oh..." There was a long pause of silence. "Damn, Marius. I'm sorry. That sucks."

A bitter laugh came from the short Cadet. "No kidding."

***

Marius was approaching the top of the pyramid. Once he got over the top, he expected Yates to pass him the ball, then he'd advance.

"Rhodes," he heard called from behind him.

He turned only to see that hulking Cadet from third year coming up behind him, faster than he'd have liked. Marius lunged for the peak and heaved his body up over the dividing wall, coming down hard in the other teams side, and rolling down the pyramid. There was no way Yates could him to pass the ball, so Marius started back up toward the peak.

Following Marius's route, the third year Cadet - Morgan - came over the wall, landing on his feet with more grace than Marius had.

As quickly as he could Marius jumped to the top of the pyramid and waved. Yates tossed the ball but Morgan leapt between them and snatched the ball out of the air.

Marius only saw red and as Morgan started his way down Marius's teams side, moving toward Steven Locarno, Marius's Keeper. Marius liked Locarno; they weren't friends, but still, Marius liked him. His older brother had made some real waves at the Academy several years back and Steven was doing his very best to different than his brother Nick. Marius respected that, even in the face of the whispers, rumors and insinuations, Steven stuck it out and was making himself out to be a hell of a Cadet, and probably a hell of an officer too. "Locarno!" he shouted, getting the Keeper's attention.

Marius could see Steven's knuckles go white as he clutched at his ion mallet. With a howl, Marius launched himself onto Morgan's back, wrestling the ball from his meaty hands.

"Get off me, you Mulvaran Mud Flea!"

Marius thrashed, getting to his feet with the ball in his hand. He kicked off, jumping up the side of the pyramid. Beneath his foot, he heard a distinct crunch and Morgan yowled pain. He felt badly about hurting the other player, but that was Parrises Squares, people got hurt. He kept going, ready to score.

The two other offense players on Morgan's team had gathered to help their comrade and Marius took advantage of the situation. Between him and the hoop was only the other teams Keeper. A crooked smile tugged at the corner of his lips and he made his drive toward the ramp at the end of the field. Oandan Raisad raised his mallet, and Marius cleared his mind. Remembering a trick Azaiah had taught him for dealing with other Betazoids. For Marius, it only worked about one try in ten, but it was worth a go. He advanced on Oandan instead of the goal hoop. The Keeper raised his mallet, the handle in both hands, and he held out it out in a defensive stance. Marius jumped across the gap between the pyramid and the ramp and grabbed the mallet with his left hand. He shoved the Keeper back, more aggressively than he'd intended, and turned, jumping again. He soared through air and he thrust his right arm out, and handily put the ball through the goal hoop. With a whooping shout, Marius landed, throwing his arms up in celebration, and he started making his way back to his own side of the field.

The other team was headed for their side too and Marius met Morgan at the top. The look in the massive, Rigellian, Cadet's eyes were nothing short of murderous. Marius rolled his eyes, which had been the wrong move. With a single spin, Morgan took Marius legs out from under him. He fell hard and his chest came down on the top of the divider wall before he rolled to his own side and fell the meter and a half to the floor. He called out in pain but couldn't catch his breath.

Steven jumped forward, taking advantage of the break to check on his teammate. From the sidelines Krath came running up to the field.

"Can you getting him to the infirmary?" Locarno asked the Vulcan.

"No!" Marius gasped, but when he started coughing blood, he knew his argument wasn't going to hold any water.

Krath nodded and tapped his comm badge. "Medical emergency. Two for site to site transport to the infirmary. Energize."

***

Marius was laying in his bed trying to study. Doctor Pulaski had done a fine job repairing his broken ribs but when he asked about a pain reliever, she simply passed him off to Krath, telling him "a little suffering is good for the soul."

He shifted his weight and tried to keep his focus on the PADD in front of him, but every few seconds he could see Krath moving, and it distracted him from his History of First Contacts studies. "Can you please stop? I'll be fine," he said.

"That was not your attitude when you were asleep an hour ago."

Marius narrowed his eyes.

Krath chuckled. "I went to get some tea from the replicator in my room and when I came back you were practically crying. When I woke you up, you thought I was Azaiah."

Marius sighed, remembering none of the exchange. "Zay used to hold me when I got hurt playing Parrises Squares."

Krath gave Marius a strange look before saying "I'm not holding you, Rhodes."

"I'd just as soon you didn't."

The terminal started beeping with an incoming transmission.

"Computer, transfer subspace call to this PADD," Marius directed while waving Krath out the door. "Thanks," he called after the Vulcan. He turned his full attention to his PADD and answered. "Hey, Azaiah."

"Hey... what are you doing in bed?"

With a roll of his eyes, Marius explained the whole story to the Betazoid.

"You need to learn to be careful. One of these days you're gonna piss off a Nausican or something when neither me nor Krath is around, then you'll really be screwed."

A long silence unfolded between them and Marius wondered if Azaiah was about to give him more bad news. "What's going on, Azaiah?"

"Well..." a smile spread across his face. "I put in my request for transfer. I requested something in a more core role in the Fleets. Maybe end up on a science ship!"

Marius nodded. "That'd be nice."

"Mhmm, I asked for something that isn't deep space yet, something that keeps me with the fleet."

Marius wanted so badly to read that as 'something that keeps me closer to you,' but he knew he reading into things would only lead to disappointment. "That's great, Azaiah. I hope this works out for you."


	5. Ad Astra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marius's big day finally arrives, Commencement at Starfleet Academy. Marius gets a happy surprise and reminisces about his relationship with Azaiah. He learns his first assignment and begins his journey to the front lines of the Dominion War.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Majel Barrett Roddenberry Voice*
> 
> Last time on Star Trek: Heroes and Demons,
> 
> Starfleet finally freed Betazed from the Dominion and while that was worth celebrating, Marius received word from his father, that his mother had been killed in the initial invasion.
> 
> While letting off steam in a game of Parrises Squares, Marius let competition get the better of him and end up injured. 
> 
> He learned that that Azaiah's transfer request was approved.
> 
> And now, the continuation.

"For almost two hundred and fifty years, Starfleet has expanded our horizons and understanding of the universe. It is no accident that when Starfleet was founded, the motto was 'to the stars through hardship.' The Federation now faces one of the greatest hardships she has known since the Federation Charter was signed. Starfleet has always been our greatest asset and now, as you join the ranks of the millions before you, you are part of that tradition, you become a great asset to the Federation. Despite the struggles that you will doubtlessly face over the coming months, you mustn't forget what Starfleet was founded for; for one day soon, you will live into Zefram Cochran's words, boldly going where no one has gone before."

The assembled guests and graduates applauded Admiral Brand loudly as the names began being called off - names and ranks. Most of them would graduate as ensigns, but it wasn't unheard of, for a few, usually elites like Red Squad, to make Lieutenant straight away.

The roll call felt like it had been taking hours. " Koridan, Ensign," the Admiral called. Marius knew his alphabet, it was taking ages but he knew who was next.

"Krath, Lieutenant." The student body erupted in cheers as Marius's friend became the first Cadet to make Lieutenant.

Time slipped away and Marius was lost in thought. He'd stopped paying attention and it was only when the young Deltan who was beside him rose, did he realize he was next.

"Rhodes, Marius. Lieutenant." Marius stood. He felt lighter. It wasn't that he had any doubts that he'd make Lieutenant, but it was still nice to hear it for the first time.

"Wooo! Yea Red!" Krath called from the other side of the dais.

Marius put his head down, feigning modesty. He shook Admiral Brand's hand as Captain Satelk handing him his commission and changed his pips. Two gold dots on his collar, he was elated. And then, it was over. The Presidio cleared out once the last name was called out and soon only a small band of newly commissioned officers remained.

Krath was talking to him animatedly, explaining when he thought that they'd get their first orders, when suddenly Marius vision was blacked out, hands coming to cover his eyes.

"Wha?!" he shouted, struggling against the stranger. When he finally broke free, we was shocked and moved to see Azaiah standing there, a huge grin on his face. "ZAY!" Marius shouted, jumping up and wrapping his arms and legs around the taller man, a force of habit. "What are you doing here?!"

Azaiah lowered him carefully, his eyes filled with fondness and love. "I'm mid-transfer. And Earth was between where I was and where I'm going so. I wanted to see you graduate, Lieutenant." His voice was full of pride.

***

Krath, Azaiah and Marius had dinner together, celebrating Starfleet's two newest Lieutenants. "You both worked so hard. You really deserve it," Azaiah said as they picked at their food from the 602 Club.

Marius started to snuggle into Azaiah's side when he realized what he was doing and stopped, putting some distance between himself and the Betazoid. An awkward silence hung in the air that was mercifully broken by the chirp of both Marius and Krath's comm badges.

"Lieutenant," both voices said in near unison. "Admiral Brand requests and requires your presence in small lecture hall 4501 in the Reed Academic Building at 0730 hours tomorrow."

"Acknowledged," Marius and Krath said together.

Azaiah bit into the french fry. "Sounds like you two are getting your orders tomorrow."

Marius smiled at Krath, excitedly.

***

The lecture hall had about forty five other young officers who'd graduated just the day before and Marius scanned the room for others that he knew. Down front, he could see Steven Locarno sitting quietly, several seat's removed from the others. Even after graduation, his brother's legacy still stalked him.

Captain Satelk entered, his posture stiff; classically Vulcan. "Greetings. This group of officers have been assigned to the forty second battlegroup. You will be part of Admiral Ross's detachment, based from Starbase 375. Your assignments are as follows." The Captain began reading through the names of the assembled; a simple format; surname, posting.

"Krath; _USS Farragut_." he continued. "Locarno; _USS Grissom_."

Even though it was a much smaller group, Marius still felt like the wait for his own name was taking far too long.

"Randal; Starbase 375. Rhodes; _USS Intrepid_."

***

"Isn't the __the Admiral's flagship?" Azaiah asked, as they crossed the quad.

Krath nodded. "Who knows what my position will be. I'm supposed to meet with the ship's first officer the minute I report. Fifteen days from now."

"Same here, I think the whole battle group has fifteen days before we report. I'm going tomorrow morning. The _Kyoto_ is leaving from the ESD at 1345 tomorrow for Starbase 375." Marius had already made his arrangements, planning and confirming his passage before the meeting was even over.

"Mind if I come along," Azaiah asked. "I'm being transferred to the Alpha Quadrant."

Marius smiled at the Betazoid. "Sure."

The trio continued into the Tucker Residence Hall. Marius had to admit, having Azaiah in tow as they moved down the corridor toward his quarters felt like the old days, like it was supposed to.

"You should pack." Krath told their dark haired companion.

"My stuff's already on its way. I figured I'd help Marius pack."

Marius stopped, turning on his heel. "It's still no fair listening to my thoughts," he complained. "I can ask for my own help."

"Mar... It has nothing to do with telepathy. I know you." It was true. Azaiah knew Marius better than anyone.

"My room is in perfect order, thank you."

"Of course it is, Marius. It always is. But you've still gotta get it all into crates and on the A-grav pallet." Of course Azaiah would know what needed to be done. He'd just done all this himself the year before. "Let me help?"

A warmth spread in Marius's chest, it felt like he was being asked if they could make it work. _No, he's offering to help. You two are friends._ He nodded his head running his fingers through his hair. It stuck up at all angles, held in their disheveled place by the paste that he haphazardly applied each morning. He'd done it since Azaiah first got him the styling paste. Even if he didn't care what it looked like, or have any clue how to make it look good, it was part of his routine now, and it was a part of Azaiah that he still had.

 _"I don't care, though," Marius complained. "This whole vanity, caring what our freaking hair looks like doesn't mean anything. It's not going to help us out_ there _."_

_Azaiah stepped around the wall, leaving the small bathroom behind him. "This isn't 'out there,' Mar. It's the annual Academy Gala. It's a chance to get dressed up, enjoy a good meal. A real meal, nothing replicated. There'll be dancing and mingling."_

_Marius rolled his eyes, but he couldn't deny that Azaiah looked incredible in his dress uniform; better than he looked himself. He was sure of that._

_"Here," Azaiah said, handing him a small, polymer jar filled with hair paste. "Let me." He led the smaller man into the miniature bathroom and stood behind him. Taking two fingers, Azaiah dipped his fingers into the jar and then rubbed his hands together._

_Marius sniffed, the paste having a light scent that was both masculine and laced with light, springy botanicals. He liked it. And he liked Azaiah's hands in his hair, carefully sculpting the fiery mop into a style that some how projected a neat, put together air while being artfully messy._

_"There," Azaiah said, placing his hands under the spigot, rinsing them. "It's very you."_

_Marius turned and leaned up on his toes. Azaiah smiled and bent, their lips meeting in a tender kiss._

_"Okay, we should finish getting ready. I don't want to miss the hors d'oeuvres."_

Anti-gravity flatbeds had been put outside each of the new officers doors and Azaiah grabbed the handle and pulled it into Marius's room.

"How much do you need to get on here?" he asked.

Marius looked around the small dormitory room. "There's not much here that I can't just replicate." He paused. "I guess, my clothes. I'll take care of uniforms once I get to the Starbase. But my normal clothes I want to take."

Azaiah opened the small closet and started taking the hanging shirts, sweaters and hoodies from their hangers. Marius watched him, as he arranged his PADDS in a smaller case.

"Mar... Isn't this mine?" Azaiah asked holding up the Academy Marathon hoodie.

"I wondered where that came from," he lied, the box of PADDs suddenly VERY interesting.

Azaiah eyed his former partner. "Mhmm," he said skeptically, but he folded it and packed it with the rest.

By the time they'd decided to take a break, they were nearly done and the sun had set. "We should think about getting something to eat."

Marius nodded and his stomach growled, almost replying to the Betazoid. "I don't think I've got it in me to go out. Can't we just replicate something?"

Azaiah smiled as he stood and crossed the room. "One blue leaf salad and one short stack of pancakes with Uttaberry jam."

Marius looked at him. "I wasn't even thinking about pancakes," he said.

"Mar, how is it that still don't know that I don't listen to your thoughts. I just know you." There was a warmth to the way Azaiah said that, an understanding that they'd always know each other.

Eventually, Marius became too tired to do to anything else. He pulled on his sweat pants and a t-shirt as Azaiah put their plates in the replicator to be broken down for reuse in another replicator for who knew what. "I'm just going to rest my eyes for a moment," Marius said. "We can get back to work in a few."

He could hear Azaiah laugh as he laid down on the bed.

"Just for a moment," he repeated.

Hours must have passed and the ambient temperature in the room had dropped, even in his mostly asleep state, Marius shivered and scooted back against the warm body behind him. Strong, warm arms encircled him and he drifted back to a restful sleep.

When he woke up, Marius wasn't sure if he'd dreamt about Azaiah holding him in his sleep or if it had happened but when he opened his eyes, he saw the pallet completely loaded with the rest of his belongings and he could hear the sonic shower in his small bathroom.

By the time Azaiah had come out of the bathroom, Marius had made it to the edge of his bed and was sitting up.

"Hey look, you're making progress," the taller boy teased.

Marius looked at the perfectly arranged A-Grav flatbed and gestured toward it.

"I finished up while you were asleep." He smiled and for a moment, it felt like the last year had never happened. "You need to get washed up. We can catch one of the shuttles to the Space Dock; but only if you hurry."

Marius didn't need to be told twice and he rushed through his morning ablutions, readying himself. He debated what he'd wear while he was in the sonic shower and decided that it'd probably be best if he wore a uniform... then again he still hadn't reported for duty yet and he was now technically on leave.

"Zay," he called out from the bathroom. "Do you think I should wear a uniform or civvies?"

Azaiah's head popped in through the sliding door. "Dress normally, you don't need to announce yourself yet."

"Right," he said as he stepped down from the platform, reaching for his underwear and dark blue t-shirt. "Can you pull out my dark gray pants and a sweater. Maybe the Tarcassian razor beast wool one."

"Sure."

A moment later, the door slid open again and Azaiah leaned in with Marius's cloths. He laughed a little, watching the shorter officer simply mess his hair with the paste. "Let me," he said, and without thinking Marius backed up against him. It all felt so natural that when Azaiah's fingers started moving through Marius's ginger hair, a low half moan, half sigh escaped the smaller boy's throat.

Marius instantly turned red, the deep blush blotting out his countless freckles. "Sorry," he said, his head hanging.

Azaiah's eyes were wide and his fingers frozen in Marius's hair. "Yea... um. Don't worry about it." It only took Azaiah a second to recover and he continued his ministrations as if nothing had happened. "Perfect." He backed out of the too small bathroom and waited for Marius to come out. "Okay, we should drop this off at the transporter and get over to the shuttle."

***

Marius had only ever been to Earth Space Dock once before and the constant hustle and bustle of the station was astonishing. It wasn't that he didn't know how big the place was. You could see it from Earth, but from the ground it was easy to forget that more than three hundred thousand people called the Space Dock home.

From the massive window, Marius and Azaiah looked into the Space Dock side of the installation, watching as shuttles and work bees zipped around the enormous starships that were moored within.

 _"SS Kyoto_ will depart at 1345 hours," the overhead announcement came.

"That's our ride," Marius said, pointing to the smaller starship in the distance.

 _Kyoto_ was an older ship, probably in service for at least seventy years. Her nacelles were mounted directly to the sides of her primary hull and the long, secondary hull was slung under the ship, suspended from pylons descending from the ships warp nacelles.

"Wow, I guess it's time to start dragging the old _Oberth_ -classes out of moth balls." There was a note to Azaiah's voice that sounded concerned. If Starfleet was falling back on ship that could be a century old, what did that say about the state of the war?

Marius tugged at Azaiah's sleeve, dragging him along. "For God sake, Azaiah, it's a transport ship. They aren't retrofitting her for heavy combat. C'mon."

***

Aboard the ship, _Kyoto_ certainly didn't seem like she was that old. She was spotless, like most Starfleet ships, and all of the consoles looked like they were up to date with the newest LCARS patch.

They followed their guide through the narrow corridors.

"How many are currently serving on the _Kyoto_?" Marius asked,

The officer turned around, walking backwards. Her uniform wasn't standard Starfleet issue. It was a simple, gray jumpsuit with a shoulder mission patch that said: _S.S. Kyoto_ , Interplanetary Transport Service. "There's twenty two of us. The rest of the crew quarters were converted for passenger service." She said no more, turning back around.

Azaiah and Marius exchanged looks as the woman came to a stop.

"This is your quarters." She turned to leave without another word.

Marius eyes were wide. "Which of us?"

"Both, there's plenty of room," she said, without missing a step.

Once she disappeared around the corner, both men turned. "Um... well. I guess we can make the best of it," Azaiah said. "We were able to share a room pretty well last night."

Marius nodded and stepped to the door waiting for it to slowly slide open. "Yea."

The room was small, but at least it had two single beds and a window. "Cozy," Azaiah commented.

Marius plopped down on the bed. "Azaiah... I'm sorry about what happened this morning, back in my room."

"What are you talking about, Marius."

Marius could feel the heat in his cheeks. "The um... noise I made. It just sorta happened."

"Yea." Azaiah dropped onto the other bed. "Look, there's baggage Marius. There's a lot of history between us. But that doesn't change who we are to each other. I still can't imagine a day without talking to you." He chuckled a little. "Ya know, I think we've talked more since we broke up than when we were together."

Marius nodded. "It's good. I need it."

"Me too," Azaiah said with a smile.

Through the window, Marius could see the points of light that were windows, looking into the cavernous Space Dock, start moving. He leaned toward the window and could see beneath them, the lit guides that directed starships toward the space doors.

"And we're off," Marius said, turning back toward Azaiah.

With a smile and a wink, Azaiah replied, "no stopping us now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you readers are enjoying it! Let me know with Kudos or comments! See ya in a week!!!


	6. Too Short a Season

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marius and Azaiah spend more than a week on the transport ship heading to Starbase 375. And the close quarters on the trip remind them of the good days gone by. In the tight quarters of their small ship and on the Starbase, Azaiah and Marius's love still burns and they begin setting up plans for the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Majel Barrett Roddenberry voice*
> 
> Last time on Star Trek: Heroes and Demons.  
> Rhodes and Krath graduated from Starfleet Academy and received their orders. Marius gets a surprise companion on his trip to his new posting.
> 
> And now, the continuation.

Seven days had passed on the _Kyoto_ and Marius felt like he was untouchable. He'd spent most of each day with Azaiah and it didn't fell like it used to. This was new and fresh and no, they hadn't kissed or made any grand declarations, but they'd been there. They showed each other what they felt through actions. It was as if they were in their own little bubble, their own private starship, streaking through the galaxy at high warp. It didn't matter that there were twenty other freshly minted officers onboard, on their way to their new postings. It didn't matter that this voyage ended in a war zone. Right now, all that mattered was Marius and Azaiah.

"Hey Mar?" Azaiah called as he stepped out of the bathroom. "Why don't we eat in the ship's lounge tonight? It's on the leading edge of the saucer. It's gotta have a great view."

Marius nodded, looking up from his PADD. Through out the day, the _Intrepid's_ XO had been sending out assignments and information. It wasn't that Marius was working, per se; he was still on leave, but he wanted to know what his assignment would be.

"What's up?" Azaiah asked, zipping his sweater.

Marius looked up with a grin. "Alpha shift, Ops."

"Hmmm?"

Marius's gray eyes met the dark Betazoid irises. "On the _Intrepid_. I'm on the lead shift at Ops. I'm her Prime Ops controller."

"Oh Mar!" Azaiah said, jumping to his feet. He pulled the ginger up in a sweeping gesture and hugged him tightly. "Oh my God, Honey! I'm so proud of you!"

Marius melted into Azaiah. God, he'd missed this. He soaked it up, loving it, even if it was only to be fleeting; even if it was only an outburst of excitement. He'd take it. "Thanks," Marius said, his face buried in the crook of the taller boy's neck. "I am too." He breathed in Azaiah's scent deeply and he felt like he was home.

Slowly, the Betazoid put him back down but he showed no shame, and no apology tumbled from his lips. "Mar, you're gonna be amazing," he said with a wide smile.

Celebration fed their hunger and soon both of their stomachs were growling.

"Let's go, I gotta eat something." Marius was jumping to his feet before he even finished his sentence.

With a laugh, Azaiah rose and started to follow, but much more slowly.

"C'mon, Zay! I'm starving!"

***

The pair stood in the Kyoto's forward lounge, watching the hundreds of ships that moved in a carefully choreographed dance around Starbase 375.

"Wow!" Marius said breathlessly as the small _Oberth_ -class starship was dwarfed beneath the saucer of a huge _Nebula_ -class ship. "Ya know, that even though the _Nebula_ -class is huge, her saucer is actually only seventy-five percent the size of the _Galaxy_ -class?"

"I did know that," Azaiah said. He sighed. "Three more days before we are each headed out there." He gestured beyond the Starbase.

A heaviness hung in the air, and Marius wonder if Azaiah felt it too.

"What are you going to do with the rest of your leave, Mar?"

Marius pulled his eyes from the ships and focused on Azaiah. "I don't really have anything figured out. I've got some quarters assigned to me but I thought I might just try and... I don't know. Maybe explore the station?

"That sounds nice. Can I join you?"

Marius nodded before turning his attention back to the ships. The enormous Starbase dominated their view now as the docking bay doors opened admitting the small transport ship into the base.

***

Inside the Starbase 375, a different sort of Starfleet seemed to exist. Instead of that intrepid spirit that defined the organization, here the air had been replaced with the order and precision of a military.

Marius felt a chill. "We aren't soldiers," he said quietly.

"I know, but if we ever want to explore again, this is what we have to do." Azaiah paused. "You okay?"

Marius nodded as they stepped into a turbolift, leaving the main deck of the station and descended to the promenade. Here at least, was more what Marius expected.

Starfleet officers and civilians mingled in informal conversation and transactions. Restaurants were still open and general entertainment seemed pretty normal.

"Weird isn't it?" Krath's voice came from behind them. "How can they just go on like nothing weird is happening in the middle of a war?"

"If we can't keep this, then what are we fighting for?" Azaiah said.

Krath eyeballed them both, an unasked question between them.

"I don't know," Azaiah said with a smile and a shrug.

"How did you get here so quick?" Marius asked.

Krath's beamed a knowing smile. "While you two putzed your way here at warp 8 on that old clunker, I was able to come on the _Ajax_ at bursts of maximum warp." There was a pride to the way said it.

"I was perfectly happy at warp 8," Marius said, his eyes darting briefly to Azaiah.

***

"Only one more day," Marius said as he and Azaiah waited at the replimat for Krath. "Tomorrow I'm off to the _Intrepid_." He couldn't deny that he was excited. He was finally getting to go out there. He was already a ranking bridge officer. But joining the _Intrepid_ meant leaving Azaiah. Who knew how long before they'd be able to spend any real time together again.

"What time do you report tomorrow?"

"0900," Marius replied.

There was a pause. "Mar, what do you say we spend the evening together - after dinner, just us."

Marius looked up. He nearly shouted yes, but just as he opened his mouth, he decided to pull back on the reins; he didn't want to seem too excited, or desperate. "Yea, that sounds nice, Azaiah." He was careful not to call him 'Zay.'

When Krath finally joined them, they'd practically finished their breakfasts and were waiting for the Vulcan to catch up.

He was going into way too much detail about how he 'took care of Marius' during their last year. More than once Azaiah apologized and Marius wondered what he meant by that. Was he sorry about Marius being ill, or how Marius acted when he was sick or hurt? Or, maybe Azaiah was sorry that he hadn't been there. Marius decided he liked that answer best and he decided, regardless of the truth, that that was what Azaiah meant.

They were walking along the promenade when Azaiah called out, pointing at one of the shops. "Hey Mar? Do you have to bunk with someone or do you get your own quarters?"

Marius held his head a little higher. "I'm _Lieutenant_ Marius Rhodes, thank you! I have my own quarters."

"Ok then, _Lieutenant_ ," he said, a light, flirtatous tease in his voice, "I didn't see anything in your belongings to make your quarters more homie. We should stop in there and see about some art or something."

Marius could hear Krath sigh behind them as they started crossing the mall toward the shop. "I'm gonna go on ahead," he called after them. "I wanna see if any shop's got any Vulcan robes."

By the time they'd gotten through the shop, Azaiah was pushing a small A-grav cart filled with things for Marius's quarters. They were approaching the front of the shop, moving toward the merchant when Marius stopped. "Zay," he said hushed. "I don't have any Latinum. How am I supposed to pay for this?"

The Betazoid just shook his head. "I got it, Marius."

They took the totes back to Marius's temporary quarters before they traveled down to meet with Krath... who was late again.

When he finally showed up, he leaned over them. "Guys, can I call a raincheck on dinner?" he asked, a smile lilting in his voice. "I met this really great Trill and I thought it'd only be logical to get to know each other."

Marius waved him off. "Have fun." He turned to Azaiah. "Holodecks?" he asked.

The Betazoid nodded and they bickered about the program as they made there way to one of the available holodecks.

"I'm still not a good swimmer," Marius said, as he looked over the side of the boat into the water below.

"It's not real, Mar. And the holodeck safeties are on. Or I can jump in and drag you out if I have to."

As wonderful as that sounded, Marius was still not a fan of flailing around in cold water, holographic or not; but by the end of the night, he'd become much more comfortable. He jumped up and down on the deck of the small sailboat and was even letting Azaiah try to teach him how to work the sails - again.

When their time was up, they were both exhausted. "That was great, Mar. So much better than last time we tried to sail."

Marius nodding in agreement, his red hair darkened with sweat. "I don't know why I had so much fun this time."

"Let's go back to your room and watch that holo-novel on the mini projector we got," Azaiah said as they walked through the corridors.

Marius moved to lead. "Sounds good, but I've gotta hop in the sonic-shower before we start. I feel so gross."

Azaiah laughed. "Yea, I should swing by my quarters too and shower."

"Just use mine."

Marius didn't miss the warm look in Azaiah's eyes when he said "Ok."

They didn't discuss it that night, it was completely spontaneous. Marius crawled into his bed and, as if on autopilot, pulled the sheets back, inviting Azaiah to join him. The taller boy crawled in and Marius rolled, putting his back against Azaiah's chest. Like had happened countless times before, Azaiah wrapped his arms around Marius and held him. Marius couldn't be sure, but as he drifted to sleep, he thought he felt Azaiah's lip place three tender kisses to the back of his neck. He cooed in contentment and drifted off.

***

Azaiah's arms were still around Marius when he started to wake up. He was still completely on autopilot when he pushed back grinding himself against the taller man. The instant he realized what he was doing, his eyes bolted open. _Nope! Can't go there!_ He froze waiting to see if Azaiah was awake but when the other boy didn't stir, Marius let his head loll back against the pillow for a moment more before he disentangled himself from Azaiah and crawled out of bed.

When Azaiah woke up just a few moments later, Marius was in the sonic-shower. Marius first saw Azaiah's dark mop of hair as he poked his head around the corner, into the bathroom. "Uniform, Mar?"

"Yea." It felt so natural. This is what their lives were supposed to be like, Marius was sure of that and he resolved to talk to Azaiah about it that morning.

When he stepped out of the shower and into the bedroom again, Azaiah was only in his underwear.

"Gonna hop on the shower pad," he said, scooting around Marius.

Azaiah didn't take long to get ready and soon he had joined Marius in the main room of the quarters.

"Zay?" Marius asked. His heart was hammering away at the inside of his chest. "What was this?"

He watched Azaiah's breath catch in his throat. "I... um... I guess." He took a deep breath. "What do you want it to be, Marius?"

"I want it to be us. I miss this, Azaiah. I miss you."

The Betazoid nodded, his hair flipping down over his forehead. "Me too. If anything this last week reminded me how much I love you."

Marius could feel himself grinning.

"But it's just not that simple, Mar. We've got new postings, new ships, and there's a war going on." He sighed. "We should have talked about this a week ago. There's a lot we have to talk about before we move on."

Marius nodded. He'd have been lying if he said he wasn't a little disappointed.

"But wars don't last forever Marius. And we'll both be right back here on this Starbase before long. Let's talk about what we each need then. We don't have the time right now."

"What are we, then Azaiah?"

"We're getting there, Babe." He paused like he was going to apologize, but gave it a second thought. "We're best friends. We're absolutely in love with each other. And we belong together. But until we can lay out what we need from each other. I don't want to say we're more than that."

Marius nodded as the computer chimed. "The time is 0815 hours."

"I need to start heading for the transporter room," Marius said.

The pair made their way out of the room and into the Starbase's corridors. "I can tell you one thing I need," Marius said as the transporter room drew nearer. "I need to know that this is happening. And I want it to just be us... now."

Azaiah nodded. "Good deal."

They stepped into the transporter room, and Marius gave the transporter operator his destination, _USS Intrepid_ , as Azaiah put all of Marius's new belongings on the transporter pad.

"Hey Mar, I'll see you in just a few weeks." He winked at the shorter officer as the redhead situated himself on the transporter pad. Azaiah took to the pad next to Marius.

"What's your destination?" the pad operator asked Azaiah.

With a smile, Azaiah mouthed 'I love you,' to Marius before he turned his attention to the transporter chief. With a smile in his voice that sang of nothing short of anticipation, Azaiah replied, " _USS Honshu_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, hope y'all liked this chapter. There's plenty more to come! 
> 
> See ya in a week (if you guys send some love, maybe I'll update sooner ;D)  
> Have a great week!!!  
> LLAP!


	7. What We Leave Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marius Rhodes may have been the commanding officer of the Intrepid for the moment, but even he knows all good things must come to an end. In fact, he'd never known it better than he did at that point in his life. And even in the shadow of the Federation's victory over the Dominion, the gaping wounds of loss were still wounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Majel Barrett Roddenberry voice*
> 
> Last time on Star Trek: Heroes and Demons.
> 
> With their new assignments drawing ever closer, Marius and Azaiah take advantage of their trip to their new post to relax and rediscover each other. History didn't have to repeat itself.
> 
> And now the continuation.

The Warp Tug finally released _Intrepid's_ primary hull from its clamps. Marius sat up straighter in the center chair.

"Maneuvering thrusters only," he ordered. "Inform DS9 that we request permission to dock."

Despite his lower rank and obvious inexperience, Admiral Ross had allowed Marius to keep command of the _Intrepid_ while it was tugged to Deep Space Nine from the battlefield. Limping along at Warp 7 made a trip that should have been little more than a day stretch out for nearly four. Four days with nothing to do but sit in the center chair and think about what had happened at Cardassia. Four days to pace the Ready Room on the verge of tears. Four days to ignore how his greatest wish come true was ashes in his mouth.

The small starship slide into position as the helmsman expertly brought the ship to a stop and lined the airlock up with the station's docking port, high above the station, at its upper pylon.

Marius stood and moved to the Ready Room without a word. He sat behind the desk wondering what would come next for him. The war had been won, but at such a terrible cost. Could Starfleet go back to what it had been, to the exploration and science. Could Marius? And what would become of his duties, was he meant to go back to Ops after having command for nearly a week? Did he even want to stay on a starship?

There were so many questions that Marius had to ask himself, so much to figure out. The crew had given him a wide birth. Not that they understood what he was going through, what cost had been taken from him, but they could see the weight that he was being crushed under.

He closed his eyes. They burned against his lids, and he wondered if he was going to cry again or if he was finally crashing. Sleep had evaded him since the battle, it was only a matter of time before he collapsed from exhaustion. The door chimed.

"Come in," Marius called.

The young woman from Ops stepped in. She was Ktarian and clearly still getting used to the uniform. Marius was pretty sure she hadn't been in his graduating class at the Academy. He had no memory of her at all, not that that meant they didn't overlap. "Captain, docking procedures are complete."

Marius nodded. "Right, um... dismiss the non essential crew for leave. I uh... I'll speak to Admiral Ross about who _Intrepid's_ next commanding officer will be and a repair schedule." He looked around the Ready Room. "She served us well, huh?"

"Sir?"

He sniffed, fighting back another wave of tears. " _Intrepid_. She held together. Fought hard."

"Yes sir," the young woman said. "I'll be sorry to say goodbye to her."

"What do you mean, Ensign?"

"If she's not scrapped, she's in for a long repair. I think most of us will end up on other postings before she goes back out there."

Marius nodded. "Yea. She's got a long road ahead of her."

***

Marius been summoned by Admiral Ross for a meeting at 1300 hours and he didn't want to be late. That was why he was pacing the corridors of the _Farragut_ at 1225 hours. Besides, navigating the warren of passages of the large, _Excelsior_ -class ship gave him something to do other than wallow on the Intrepid.

His badge chirped before the tired voice of Admiral Ross came from the device. "Ross, to Lieutenant Rhodes."

Marius tapped his badge. "Rhodes here, sir."

"Lieutenant, if you're already on the _Farragut_ , or free now, I'd like to move up our meeting."

Marius turned on his heals and started for the conference room. "On my way, Admiral."

Inside the starship's conference room, the long table was covered in PADDs and even old style paper. Marius couldn't remember the last time he'd seen actual paper. The walls were scarred and marked, where displays and art had seemingly once hung, probably torn from their positions during the battle.

"Rhodes," the Admiral greeted. "Come, sit down."

As Marius crossed the room, the Admiral poured from a strangely shaped carafe. "Coffee?" he asked.

"No. Thank you, though."

Ross nodded. "Look Rhodes, there's a lot going on around here, so I'll get right to it. Starfleet's got a lot of mop up to do and we need experienced commanders on this."

"I understand, sir."

"You did a great job in a really tough situation, Rhodes. _Intrepid_ is the only ship that lost her captain and made it out the other side of the battle."

Marius couldn't help but feel a little pride at that. He wanted to brag about it to Azaiah. " _Intrepid's_ a good ship, sir. She's got a plenty of lightyears still left in her."

Ross smiled. "I've got no doubt of that, Rhodes. But right now, all she has is a trip to Mars. Utopia Planitia has a drydock waiting for her." He shifted. "Look, Lieutenant. I've looked up your file, and I spoke to a few of your colleagues."

"Yes, sir."

The Admiral looked him squarely in the eyes. "I know you've got a lot on your plate right now, Marius; otherwise I'd ask you to take her back to Mars. But I think right now it's best if you go home to Betazed for a week or so. I'm sending most of _Farragut's_ crew on leave. They've been in this for way too long with no break. I want you to take some time, think about you want out of your career and report to Starfleet command in five weeks."

"Aye sir." Marius paused, taking a deep breath. "Admiral Ross. I wonder if I might be allowed to stay here at Deep Space Nine through the Armistice. The Dominion took a lot from me. I'd like to see them officially surrender."

"I think we can make that happen, Rhodes. Dismissed."

***

Marius watched closely as the Vorta handed the gold, feather shaped pen to the Changeling. She was a haughty creature and it was clear just how much she resented being there, signing that document. All Marius could feel as he looked at the Founder, her smoothed out features and slicked back hair, was abject hatred. She, and her war, had taken so much from him and he wondered if the Federation would ever feel as safe as it had before. It had seemed like a strong, eternal institution that could only grow stronger as the centuries progressed. But now, the Dominion War had drawn them too near to the brink. The organization that had so beautifully protected the rights and security of so many had been so nearly destroyed by an oppressive and despotic state. Even its chosen name spoke to its authoritarian, conquest driven culture: The Dominion.

With a petulant flick of the wrist, she dropped the pen on the paper. Her countenance was of absolute arrogance as the female Changeling rose, handing the closed folder that contained the Documents of Surrender - The Treaty of Bajor - to Admiral Ross. "The war between the Dominion and the Federation Alliance is over," she said, flatly.

Ross's eyes moved from the Changeling's to the table before he scanned the room full of people. "Four hundred years ago, a victorious general spoke the following words at the end of another costly war," his eyes kept darting from one witness to another, taking in the Vorta, and Breen; the Kingons and Romulans that stood with their Federation allies, and he took a deep breath, the weight of the moment resting heavily on the Admiral's shoulders. "Today, the guns are silent; a great tragedy has ended. We have known the bitterness of defeat, and the exaltation of triumph; and from both we have learned: there can be no going back. We must move forward to preserve in peace what we've won in war."

The Founder looked into Ross's eyes very pointedly before turning away. She was flanked by Starfleet security officers as she rounded the table, making her way through the crowd. For a moment, she stopped and spoke to Deep Space Nine's security chief who was also a Changeling, though he had proven himself loyal to the Federation. Marius couldn't make out what she said to Odo, but the security chief, dressed in the uniform of the Bajoran security forces, simply bowed his head as the Founder was taken from the room by the Starfleet officers.

Marius had hoped watching the Founder sign the terms of unconditional surrender and being escorted out, that he'd feel some closure or relief, but the fact was that he still burned with anger and hatred toward the Dominion, toward the Founders, the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar. Even as the female Changeling was being placed into custody, maybe in some sort of magnetically sealed jar, every time he closed his eyes, all Marius could see was the Battle of Cardassia, the ships twisting and turning above the planet as both sides lost starships. He saw the capitol ships as they edged ever closer and as they were lost. With a heavy sigh, Marius turned from where he stood and exited the room.

***

From the second level of Deep Space Nine's promenade, Marius watched as the warp tug pulled the _Intrepid_ away from the station. At the limited speeds that the tug could pull her, it'd be more than a month before the _Intrepid_ made it to the shipyards.

"Marius." There was none of the normal joy that was in Krath's voice. "How are you holding up?"

The redhead opened his mouth but found no words.

"Yea," the Vulcan put his hand on the shorter man's shoulder. "That seems about right." He took a place next to Marius and they both gazed through the window. "What's next?"

"I'm going home for a little while. I need to figure out what I'm going to do. I... don't know if I want to stay in Starfleet."

Beside him, Marius could feel Krath turn toward him. "Well that's a load of bullshit." There was neither warmth nor malice in his voice. "Starfleet's in your bones. You'll figure it out and be back."

"I don't know." Marius's voice sounded weak. "I don't even know if it's the same Starfleet."

"Can I come back to Betazed with you?" Krath asked him.

Marius shrugged. "Shouldn't you go home to Andoria?"

"I think I should see what they did to Betazed. I think I should be there for..." he trailed off.

"Yea."

***

The two officers stood gazing through the window of one of the many observation lounges on the _Ajax_ , with a few others who were headed to Betazed. It was a small contingent, most only using the planet as a stop over before heading off to other parts of the Federation.

"It's gonna be weird," Krath said quietly.

Marius sighed. "I think I'm going to lay down."

"It's only 1900 hours, Rhodes," the Vulcan protested.

"I need to go lay down."

In his room, Marius listened to the constant thrum of the warp core as it pushed the _Excelsior_ -class starship through space. The last ten days aboard the ship had been surreal and Marius couldn't be sure he actually felt anything about the trip at all. Just another thing that the Dominion War had left in its wake; broken dreams, and broken lives, like the spoiled hulks of the starships now caught in their endless dance above Cardassia. And even the survivors, if Marius was any thing to go by, would only live half a life.

He thought about something Captain Sisko had said just before the battle. "The Dominion knows they're going to lose. But they'll make us pay for every kilometer of the planet." Hell, they'd be paying for decades to come. And if the United Federation of Planets paid such a cost, what was the price of freedom for the Cardassians? Surely they didn't deserve what the Dominion had done to them, even despite the fifty year Occupation of Bajor, even if they did side with the Dominion. There were rules of engagement, and an uprising wasn't cause to exterminate the whole population. Admiral Ross had been right, there could be no going back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well folk, sorry that one's a little heavier but I hope you enjoyed it just the same. Let me know, comment and kudo, and I'll see you next week! LLAP


End file.
